A few post-CPAC observations

I really liked Giuliani's speech but my favorite speaker was John Bolton. I even managed to say hello to him on my way out. Great guy.
(No, I didn't ask, "Got milk?")
Update, Sunday 4 March Pamela has the speech.

In case I didn't make myself clear enough yesterday, I loathe Ann Coulter. This kind of stuff is why. Since the exhibit hall where the bloggers were located was filled with people and noise I first thought I had misheard, but James Joyner clarified that I had heard it correctly.

Joyner tried to get Romney to say something other than the usual boilerplate, and all he got was a rounding error.

Anyone who thinks self-tanners make you look tan should face reality and learn that orange is not tan.

Until I went to CPAC I didn't know that the NRA has a radio show on Sirius.

Romney has over-coiffed hair. A little less perfect would look a lot better. Overgroomed men are a turn-off.

Brownback and Romney's adherents were too much. Fighting a gauntlet on the way to the ladies' room does not, I repeat, does not endear people to your candidate, guys. Chanting "Brownback, BROWNBACK" in closed quarters is just plain obnoxious. Shouting matches are beyond the pale.

Friday in the early evening we went for happy hour at Mediterra courtesy of Patrick Hynes of Ankle Biting Pundits.

The turnout was great (sixty bloggers or so), and Rob was enjoying himself:

I'm not sure what happened here but I believe Joyner and Atilla were talking about how Hillary makes rude noises:

Later that evening Rob Bluey and others went on to a party at Richard Miniter's house. Richard's a great guy but by 7:30PM all I wanted to do was take a hot shower, order a burger from room service, and watch The Departed on TV in a little peace and quiet.

Which is exactly what I did.

Speaking of The Departed, what ever happened to the 1 1/2hour movie? The Departed was 151 very gruesome minutes.

This was the first time I've attended a convention as a blogger. Next time I'll have a much better idea of how to approach the demands on time and the logistics.

The wire connections at the blogger's table were iffy at best. The tech guy ended up connecting my laptop to the wire with duct tape.

I dragged home 60 lbs of luggage this morning. If I knew on Thursday what I know now, I would have not brought any daytime dress shoes, which I put aside in favor of these, which I only packed at the last moment.

I wasn't the only one ditching the dress shoes.

The amoung of stuff one gets at CPAC is enormous. On the way to the ladies' room a Romney volunteer asked me if I wanted a foam mitt, which I politely declined, TWICE, since he woudln't take no for an answer ("it goes with your dress", he said, yet I didn't throttle him).

I threw away easily a hundred pages of paper, a tote bag and a dozen magazines, and still managed to keep:
4 books
6 magazines
1 chapstick
a plush puppy from PETA Kills Animals
3 CDs
3 copies of Humberto Fontova's article on Che Guevara, which I'm sending to people
1 tote bag (the only way to carry the stuff home)
2 Townhall.com baseball caps for the guys at home
2 mouse pads (not sure how I managed to keep both)
several pens
100 or so business cards
a Victory Caucus pin N.Z.Bear insisted I wear
and a Sam Adams bobble head toy, since the Sam Adams Alliance didn't serve beer.

Yes, you can take it with you.

Global warming, North Korea, and today's items

Augusto sent this, Vaclav Klaus about the IPCC panel (emphasis added)

Q: On Wednesday, the European Commission has approved carbon dioxide caps for new cars. One week earlier, the U.N. IPCC climate panel released a report that has described, once again, the global warming as one of the major threats for the whole civilization. The Stern report about similar threats was published before that. And you suddenly say that the global warming is a myth. Try to explain, how did you get this idea, Mr President?

A: It's not my idea. Global warming is a myth and every serious person and scientist says so. It is not fair to refer to the U.N. panel. IPCC is not a scientific institution: it's a political body, a sort of non-government organization of green flavor. It's neither a forum of neutral scientists nor a balanced group of scientists. These people are politicized scientists who arrive there with a one-sided opinion and a one-sided assignment. Also, it's an undignified slapstick that people don't wait for the full report in May 2007 but instead respond, in such a serious way, to the summary for policymakers where all the "but's" and "if's" are scratched, removed, and replaced by oversimplified theses.

This is clearly such an incredible failure of so many people, from journalists to politicians... If the European Commission is instantly going to buy such a trick, we have another very good reason to think that the countries themselves, not the Commission, should be deciding about similar issues.
...
It's also true that there exist social systems that are damaging Nature - by eliminating private ownership and similar things - much more than the freer societies. These tendencies become important in the long run. They unambiguously imply that today, on February 8th, 2007, Nature is protected uncomparably more than on February 8th ten years ago or fifty years ago or one hundred years ago.

Sunspots, Cosmic Rays Causing Global Warming

When sun is more active, its rays push the cosmic rays away from the Earth. Then fewer clouds are formed and the Earth warms. When the sun is less active, more cosmic rays reach the Earth, more clouds are formed, and the Earth cools.

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Tentative Nuclear Deal Struck With North Korea
Steps to Disarmament Drafted in 6-Party Talks

"This is a very bad deal," former U.N. ambassador John R. Bolton told CNN. "It contradicts fundamental premises of the president's policy he's been following for the past six years. And second, it makes the administration look very weak at a time in Iraq . . . when it needs to look strong."

At NRO, via Alcibiades,

We are entering a very dangerous and depressing phase: making deals the principal accomplishment of which is the demonstration that we're not unilateralist cowboys — diplomacy celebrated for its own sake rather than because it actually, materially furthers American interests.

It's deja-vu all over again, babe.
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The glamorizing of the covered women continues. (h/t Larwyn)
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Also via Larwyn, Let A Thousand Team Bs Bloom: Douglas Feith Deserves Our Thanks: There Is No Category of 'Inappropriate' Activities
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In a lighter mode, Air Force Three (h/t Darleen)